.^_K 



WORLD'S FAIR\ VISITOR. 





ADMIKTSTRATION BTrrLDTNn. 
PUBLISHED BY 



THE WORLD'S FAIR VISITORS' ASSOCIATION. 

BENERAL OFFICES, FONTIAC BUILDINB, 

Cor Dearborn and Harrison Sts. , 

CHICAGO, ILL., U. S. A. 

( <OPVIlIOIITEI)l 



Rooms ^001 & 1002 



^- DIRECTORS ! Sc- 



E. S. PATTEN A. J. CONtJIT 

D. C. T=50LEY, C. B. ZIMMER. 

C. H. JUDSON. 



M OFFICERS ! Sc- 



PRESIDENT, 
VICE-PRESIDENT, 
SECRETARY, 
TREASURER, 



E. S. PATTEN 

D. C. BOLEY 

C. H. JUDSON 

A. J. CDNDIT 



<'()pyright, 1W)1, by A. J. Condit & Co. 



rgoc 



THE 




orld's Jait^ Visitor. 



A COMPENDIUM OF INFORMATION 
FOR THOSE INTENDING TO VISIT 

70 be jHeld ip tl^e C^^ity of C^l7i(:a?o, 1893. 



MTBLISBED BY THE 

WORLD^S FAIR VISITORS' ASSOCIATION, 

GENERAL OFFICES, PONTIAC BUILDING, 

ROOMS 1001 AND 1002, 

COR, DSARBCRXI AND HARRISOH STS,. 

CHICAGO, ILL., D. S. A. 



TiTMAN & Son 

CHICA 




A 



> 



\ 




ADMINFSTRATION BUILDING. 



CITY OK GHIGAQO. 



The eyes of the whole world are to-day turned upon 
Chicago, the location of The World's Columbian Exposi- 
tion of 1893. Not alone the location of the World's 




''"iiiiiiiiiiimMHiiiii^'P^^"'' '"^ 

FISH AND FISHERIES BUILDING. 

Fair but the marvelous growth and possibilities of the 
metropolis by the lake have made it the most prominent 
city on the American continent, and the wonder of the 
nineteenth century. Chicago, grand, progressive, won- 
derful in its improvement, almost magical in its growth 
and practically unlimited in its capabilities, is fast becom- 



ing the financial and industrial centre of America and of 
the world. It boasts achievements that are familiar to 
the reading public of the earth and its architectural crea- 
tions, cover-ing acres of ground and towering heavenward 
to a height of eighteen and twenty stories, its magnificent 
places of amusement, its luxurious hotels, its palatial 
homes, its beautiful parks, its miles of splendid boule- 
vard, shade-lined and broad, and its great manufacturings 
packing and shipping industries, are all objects of interest 
and pride to everyone who delights in the advancing 
power and grandeur of this greatest of all nations. 



I 



THE WORLD^S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION. 



The four hundreth anniversary of the discovery of 
America by Christopher Columbus has been designated 
by the people of the United States as the occasion for 
the holding of a great national and international exhibi- 
tion of arts, industries, manufactures and products of the 
soil, mine and sea. By act of Congress Chicago is named 
as the location of the Exposition and the time of the 
opening has been appointed for May 1st, 1893. The 
Exposition will continue until the last of October of the 
same year. 

The magnitude of the World's Columbian Exposition, 
from a financial standpoint, can scarcely be realized. 
The resources of every nation on the globe will be taxed 



to furnish the cho'cest products for exhibition. Here, 
brought together in one vast enclosure, will be seen the 
re ults of all branches of labor, the art treasures, the 
accomplishment of science and the daily life and customs 
of the people from every nation, land and clime. It has 
been estimated that a trip covering the whole earth, 
making a stay of several months in each country and 
applying the entire time to close study and observation, 
woi'ld not give the traveler the information that can be 




obtained in a week's visit to the Columbian Exposition at 
Chicago. The great majority of those who would, can- 
not avail them^eWes of an extended trip around the 
world, but all may visit the World's Fair at a compara- 
tively small expense and see the countries of the earth 
spread, as it were, before them for their entertainment 
and profit. 

There have been many international expositions, but 



it is assured that the World's Columbian Exposition will 
eclipse all previous efforts in this direction. The area of 
exhibition space under cover will be twice that of the 
Paris Exposition of 1890. The press of all nations unites 
in predicting a most stupendous exhibition, far in advance 
of anything of the kind ever seen by man. To miss see- 
ing the World's Fair will be to miss the opportunity of 
a lifetime ; to see it will be to grasp a lifetime's enter- 
tainment and education. The architectural features of 
the Exposition will be grand and impressive and worthy 
of the world's inspection. Besides the main exhibition 
buildings — Administration, Machinery, Manufactures, 
Electric, Mining, Forestry, Horticultural, Agricultural, 
Art, Government and others — there will be many tine 
structures erected by the various States of the Union and 
foreign nations, reproductions of streets and palaces of 
many countries, and buildings devoted to numberless 
uses, all well worth seeing. Among such will be the re- 
production of a street in Cairo, Egypt, and a Moorish 
palace, the latter costing half a million dollars. Many 
historical buildings, both American and foreign, will be 
brought to the exposition and set up with their natural 
surroundings. The exhibit of the United States Govern- 
ment will be a most magnificent school of instruction in 
the workings of the machinery of a nation, ^nd will be 
an invaluable educator to every citizen. The Naval ex- 
hibii- will be on a large scale and will include a fully 
equipped coast-line battle-ship lying in the waters of 
Lake Michigan, and which will be entirely open to the 



inspection of every visitor. The lakes, canals and lagoons 
will be filled with craft and the illuminated water displays 
will be beyond anticipation in their beauty. 

Everyone wishes to visit Chicago and the World's 
Columbian Exposition. Of the sixty-two millions of 
people in the United States a very considerable propor- 
tion will do this. Visitors from abroad will number 




AGRICULTURAL BUILDING. 



hundreds of thousands. Those who have sojourned in 
large cities in times of great crowds understand how 
difficult it is to obtain comfortable lodgings and proper 
attention, and visitors at the Centennial and Paris Expo- 
sitions, recall many sad failures in their efforts to obtain 
the absolute necessities of even a brief stay. Those who 
have n' ver had such experiences will bear in mind that 



whoever depends upon his own unaided ability to secure 
lodgings and attend jn will be most Hkely tj take up with 
poor accommodations, extortion in all kinds of service 
and a loss of nearly everything that goes to make a 
pleasant time. Even advance orders will be at the mercy 
of strangers and the pressure brought about by such 
enormous crowds. At such a time it is most unwise to 
expect friends to provide entertainment or even to secure 
lodgings. 

While hundreds of new hotels are being erected in 
Chicago it is known th it at all World's Expositions ac- 
commodations are engrao-ed lons^ in advance, and as a 
matter of fact there will be tJwiisands of rooms engaged 
at hotels and boarding Jiouses of the better class and paid 
for a year previous to the opening day. On September 
7th, 1891, Col. Elliott F. Shepard, of the New York 
Mail and Express y engaged at the Auditorium Hotel a 
suite of sixteen rooms with board, for six months during 
the fair, at a contract price of twenty-ftve thousand dol- 
lars. In all such times prices are doubled and accommo- 
dations are diminished, extortio i cannot be prevented by 
visitors, and the avarice of hotel and lodging-house keep- 
ers frequently makes of what should be a visit of pleasure 
a time of hardship. 

With these facts in sight it is refreshing to know that 

arrangements can be made for a visit to the World's Fair, 

whereby one will be met at the station upon arrival in 

• Chicago, provided with first-class accommodations, have 

one's baggage looked after and all matters of transporta- 



tion attended to by experienced parties, and that all the 
burden of the visit will be removed and that nothing need 
stand in the way of a pleasant time. 



THE WORLD^S FAIR VISITORS' ASSO- 
CIATION 



covers all points just before referred to. It is an organi- 
zation incorporated under the laws of the State of Illinois, 




''inillM/IKilllffllWII"'"" 

HORTICULTURAL BUILDING. 

with a capital stock of $500,000. The objects of the 
association are to enable persons living at a distance from 
Chicago to visit the World's Columbian Exposition with 
a minimum of trouble and expense, and to provide for its 
patrons accommodations, information and all requisites 



for such visits, and to free them from all annoyance, extor- 
tion and disappointment in the matter. 

To this end the Association proposes to furnish trans- 
portation to Chicago and return, six days rooming accom- 
modations while in the city, guaranteed commodious and 
first-class, transportation of the visitor and his baggage 
between the depot and hotel, transportation for the term 
of the visit, to and from the exposition grounds, six days' 
admission to the exposition and the services of a guide 
upon the exposition grounds. To this end the Associa- 
tion has under contract five tJiousand rooms of the best 
class, convenient to the exposition, and further options 
sufficiently extensive to enable it to accommodate any pos- 
sible number of visitors under its care. The contracts for 
accommodations as well as the railroad tickets are trans- 
ferrablc and the return portion of the latter will be good 
for thirty days after date of issue. The World's Fair 
Visitors' Association is liberal and equitable in its method 
of dealing. The expenses are arranged on a basis of 
handling many thousands of people and the cost is thus 
reduced to a minimum, while, as the Association will con- 
trol its own hotels, the accommodations provided will be 
superior in every respect. The cost of the trips as ar- 
ranged is as low as can be made to give first-class service. 
Nothing second rate or cheap is offered and efficient man- 
agement and service is employed in everything, so that 
the patrons of the World's l-'air Visitors' Association may 
rely upon getting a substantial return for their investment. 



The method of the Association in its work is simple. 
In each community clubs of twenty members each are or- 
ganized. Each member pays ten dollars ($io. ) upon 
making application for membership, and this constitutes 
his first payment on his trip ticket. The balance due up- 
on the contract is paid in monthly installments, the amount 
of each installment depending upon the cost of transpor- 




-VIEW LOOKING SOUTH OVER THE LaGOON. 



tation and the length of time the contract has to run. For 
example: where the expenses of the trip amount to $50. 
and the time elapsing between the formation of the club 
and the opening of the exposition is 17 months, the first 
payment is $10 and the amount of each monthly install- 
ment is $2.35. These payments are the same each month 
after the first payment is made. As each installment is 



paid it is endorsed upon the contract and a receipt is 
given to the member paying. As payments will be due 
at a local bank all expense and trouble of remitting funds 
will be avoided. Upon receipt of the funds at Chicago 
the proportion of each payment for each portion of the 
contract is deposited to the credit of a special fund with 
the Illinois Trust and Savings Bank, one of tlie strongest 
financial institutions in Chicago, and such deposits will be 
held in trust for the proper fulfillment of each contract. 
Members may at any time withdraw the funds they have 
already paid, less the amount of the first payment of ten 
dollars, which will be retained by she Association to cover 
expenses incurred on behalf of such member. 

A Bureau of Information will be maintained upon the 
exposition grounds for the exclusive benefit of the patrons 
of the World's Fair Visitors' Association. Here compe- 
tent attendants and guides will be found to render any as- 
sistance and information regarding the exposition, the city 
and transportation facilities. This Bureau will be found a 
great convenience to all who visit the exposition under the 
care of the Association. 

The attention of our patrons is called to the fact that 
everybody cannot attend the Fair at the same time, and 
secure the necessary accommodations, consequently we 
request all clubs, or patrons, to advise us at the time of 
making a contract what date if any in particular is the 
most desirable. 

In all cases where possible their wishes shall be car- 



ried out. In case the accommodations are already con- 
tracted for on the date designated, the contracting parties 
may then choose from any of the open dates and notify 
the Association to that effect. 

The Association proposes to secure all the accommo- 
dations possible outside of their own Hotels and those 
already under contract, and will undoubtedly be able to 
accommodate all who make application. 




MACHINERY HALL, 



The above statement is made in order that our patrons 
may understand the situation, and the inability of any As- 
sociation to furnish unlimited accommodations. No com- 
pany or association with hotel accommodations for four 
or five thousand people per day, can possibly take care 



of ten or twenty thousand. Hence the necessity of a 
perfect understanding as regards date of visit. 

The Bureau of Information at the Home office in Chicago 
will furnish any information desired, at any time, regarding 
contracts made by our State and Local agents, and from 
time to time all subscribers in their respectiv^e localities 
will be furnished with statements from the Home office at 
Chicago, showing the standing and membership of each 
club, and giving the names of all subscribers, thus show- 
ing that the Local agents have made the proper returns 
on all contracts. 

Rates from any place will also be furnished upon ap- 
plication to the Home office. 

T^arties desiring to act as local agents for the Associa- 
tion may make application direct to the Home office at 
Chicago, which will furnish them all information and in- 
structions to Agents, and put them in communication with 
their State agent. 

The management of the Association is in the hands 
of men who are thoroughly experienced in conducting the 
affairs of large institutions, and the servants it employs 
will be found to be competent in their several lines of work. 
The officers of the Association are men of unquestioned 
integrity, and they are under heavy bonds to handle 
the funds in their care in a proper and satisfactory 
manner. The funds of the association are protected in 
every manner possible, and patrons may feel assured 



that there can be no chance for failure on the part of the 
Association to provide all that it aims and agrees to. As 
an investment a contract with the Association is most like- 
ly to be at a premium as the time of the World's Fair ap- 
proaches and as opportunities for securing accommoda- 
tions diminish. 

THE WORLD'S FAIR VISITORS' ASSOCIATION, 
General Offices, looi and 1002 Pontiac Building, 

Chicago, Illinois. 




